Update

The temptation of having a blog is to create elaborate posts that are attention grabbers like magazine articles. Well...I like that so I will keep doing it! But for this post I thought I might update all our friends and family. First, I have to tell everyone that I have gone to a first shift (7-3:30) position while I wait for an opportunity to re-apply to Denso Manufacturing. I was not hired on my first attempt most likely due to my lack of manufacturing experience. I was told I could re-apply in six months. I had been working second shift but Christy did not like being home alone at night so I requested this change and they granted it. I did move however from the electronics plant across the street to the starter/alternator plant. It's more like a traditional factory and much more relaxed. I like it a lot even though I caused three trays of starter housings worth about $120 to fall on the floor on my first day!

Another recent event was our District campmeeting. It was out at the Foothills campground (our Nazarene campground). The services were held in an open-air tabernacle. Now that was an experience! I actually liked it. It wasn't too hot even though the weather was blistering. The fans and shade of the building along with a cool breeze made for an enjoyable service. I got to meet our D.S., Rev. Ron McCormick and his wife as well as many other folks on the district. They were all exceptionally nice to us and welcomed us to the district with open arms. I was surprised, after all we came moving in without an invitation and without taking a church, I assumed they would at least be suspicious. We explained we were on a Sabbatical and felt God leading us into some non-traditional ministry. They were very encouraging and offered to help in any way they could!

Things are going fairly well at home as well. We got the fence up in the back yard and I fixed a doggie door in the screening that originally was for some kind of small toy dog. I added some 2x4's to make it bigger for Buddy to use and he seems happy. He goes out back, does his thing and is back in about 3 minutes waiting at the sliding glass door! He is warming up day by day but is still very shy. We knew it was time for the doggie door when somebody in the neighborhood was putting up siding with a nail gun the other day and Buddy was so scared that he ran up the porch steps lept over the metal part of the porch door and came right through the screen! How he did it I will never know! I am still trying to figure out how he jumped from five feet of steep steps through the door without cutting himself to pieces on the sheet metal.

The kids are enjoying summer vacation from homeschooling (and I think Christy is too). They are learning somethings to earn special treats like going out for ice cream. Daniel learned how to write his name and count to twenty and Tera learned multiplication table up to 3 (multiplied by 1-10). Christy said she was able to complete all the multiplication problems 0-3 written out randomly in less than three minutes! And in our devotional time we have been learning scripture memory verses. For months now we have been working on Psalm 23 adding a verse every couple of weeks. Daniel and Tera were able to recite Psalm 23 clearly and perfectly word for word! These kids scare me sometimes.

Well I suppose that's all the latest news I have for now other than what we put on our other blog posts. Thank you all for checking in on us and praying for us.

The Puzzle

My kids have been mesmerized by the miracle of the jigsaw puzzle lately. Our house is decorated by a scattering of Spiderman, Strawberry Short Cake and Dora the Explorer puzzles. They are amazed by their new found ability to assemble the pieces of a puzzle into the picture on the box.

I feel like our life has been like that lately. People always email and call saying, "so what is it your doing? What's this all about?" And I have to go talk to the East Tennessee D.S. this week and explain the same thing. The truth is, its a puzzle. The pieces are all scattered around and we are just not sure how they will fit together. Creative worship elements that we used in our prayer stations are one piece. They were fantastic and helped, not only adults and teens, but even our children connect with God in new and exciting ways. Story telling, object lessons, participatory worship is another puzzle piece. And even though I don't ever plan to be on any kind of platform (stage) again, it seems that teaching (even preaching?) is a gift I cannot ignore or assume has no purpose in my life.

A third piece is our fascination with house churches (or at least my fascination). The truth is we have never been to one as a family although I had visited one with newly saved friends as a teen. I visited that church very reluctantly while I still partied and was getting into trouble. Some friends of mine who were car-hoppers (guys who went around stealing whatever they could from unlocked cars) and drug users. They walked up one day and said, "we got saved!". We looked at them strangely but could not deny the incredible change that came over all of them. They invited and invited until I agreed to attend this house church. I only remember sitting in a little apartment that was so crowded with folding chairs that the back of mine was pressed up against the front door. And I remember the prayer which I believed, even at that time of rebellion, that it was a message right to my heart from the lips of God warning me of the certainty of spiritual death had I chosen to continue on my path. I have never forgotten that intense moment. Since then, I have come to understand the kind of church structure that changed the world in the New Testament was very different from what we call "church" in the Western world today. Of all the different movements I have looked at, it seems the freedom and intimacy that house churches produce is most faithful to a New Testament understanding of "Church". What the house church folks are fond of saying (and I agree with totally) is that the "Church" is wherever two or three are gathered be it on a park bench, over a cup of coffee or in a room with worship music playing.

A fourth piece of the puzzle is our desire to connect with GenXers or following generations who are looking for something real and intense in a relationship with God. They are just not finding it in our traditional churches or the "new fab" contemporary churches that are "seeker sensitive" or trying to be so "culturally relevant". Following Jesus means that you can't be relevant to everyone. Jesus hand picked a small group of disciples as an inner-circle. He explained things to the culture that they couldn't possibly understand and would only provide in-depth explanation to his little inner-circle. Yes, he ate with sinners and was in their world, but he was never "of" that world. He always freaked them out and called them to something more! I have a desire to be in the world, walk, work and live alongside people who don't know Jesus. But I always want to freak them out with excessive love, compassion, caring, giving, and being. If they see my life and think, "he's one of us", then I missed the whole point of Christlike living. Today's generations are not fooled by religious churchy folk who want to carbon copy others but neither are they fooled by pseudo-christians who curse, party, and listen to vulgar anti-Christian music just to be accepted by non-Christians. (oops got off on a soap box, sorry....well, not really sorry:)

Finally, (and I probably missed one) there is the worship music. Christy and I have found such joy with a simpler form of worship music than we are used to. Now don't panic, we are not anti-hymn people! But lately we have been worshipping with music that has the sound of folk but the words are simply Psalms set to acoustic music (acoustic guitar, other strings and hand drums-no drum kits or electric stuff). Its a very inclusive, 'world-music' sound that is very awesome and seems like it will have its place somehow.

Other pieces? The Smoky Mountains? The East Tennessee District of the Church of the Nazarene? Denso Manufacturing? Nebo Mountain? Who knows! We have no idea how these pieces may or may not fit together. We don't know if there are pieces that are not yet revealed or that we have not recognized at this moment. Right now the puzzle is laying scattered on the coffee table of God's throne room and He's smiling.

Where does the time go

Have you ever looked at old pictures of yourself and your kids and wonder where has the time gone? It just seems that life is passing by so quickly. Why do we waste so much time worrying and fretting over little things when life is passing us by? Let's live life to the fullest. Enjoy your kids, your family, your dog while you can before it passes you by. Serve God and enjoy the freedom only He can offer you. Don't let it pass you by. SMILE at a stranger, SMILE at your kids and thank God that you have teeth. Don't let the little worries of life steal your joy but as the saying goes "Live Love Laugh" or something like that.

Will God Protect Us?

My wife and I have been having a difficult time with my work schedule. I come home after dark and we both worry about the safety of my wife and kids while I am not home. My wife said last night, "I know that God can protect but what if he chooses to allow something bad to happen for some reason?" The next day we were heading out for our daily walk on the bike trail in Townsend. I always head out with the dog first and he bounds down the front steps, the kids followed with Christy locking the door. Coming down the front steps Christy exclaimed, "You guys, there's a snake and your walking right by it!" Sure enough there was a baby rattlesnake right in front of our front-door steps. The dog walked over it, I walked over it, the kids tromped over it and none of us were bit. Talk about God's protection! Rattlesnakes have two types of poison in thier venom, a toxin that eats away human flesh starting the digestive process and a toxin that affects the nervous system affecting breathing. I read on the internet that baby rattlers can actually be more harmful than adults because they have more of the neurotoxin. And here was this snake poised and ready to strike but still God held back its fangs from harming us!

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

my God, my strength, in whom I will trust... Psalm 18:2